The Tale of Death and Love
by CastielIsMyAngel13
Summary: Danny was hard to get along with. Jack came and went as he pleased. Neither expected feelings to develop. What will happen when the Tarot cards bring reality to a stand still?
1. Chapter 1

Jack Wilder was many things, Smart, quick thinking, good with his hands, and creative. But attracted to men was not one thing he thought of himself. When he received the Death Tarot card, it made him nervous, Death was usually a bad thing. When he met the others, and they all stood outside clueless, he picked the lock. Inside they found the mission, the instructions, and the need to work together.

J. Daniel Atlas was a very talented man, and Jack had always looked up to him. Something about the older man was very alluring. The way he brought you in, and made you think you knew what was going on but it reality you had no clue. Jack thought that whatever he felt inside was just admiration, not a crush…that is until finally met the man.

Having to work and live together was interesting. Daniel was a control freak. Whenever anyone went out, they had to tell Daniel, he had to know where they were, at first it was annoying, but they all realized that it was Danny's way of caring. Sometimes Jack would sneak out in the middle of the night to go sit along the riverbank. Jack was just over 18, as the plans for the heist began to get more solidified. The others knew he was young but not how young. Jack was afraid that once they knew, they would exclude him, claiming he was too young. He'd been doing magic for years on the streets. He raised himself, taught himself how to fight (after getting beaten one too many times) and survived. Some how he managed to finish high school with no one ever the wisest. (though Jack often thought Merritt Knew more than he lead on).

Jack missed having a family, but he realized that in a way, the horsemen were his family, but at times he still felt like he didn't fit in. Going to the riverbank brought him a kind of peace that he barely understood.

Returning back to the apartment in the wee hours of the morning, he made no noise as he crept back into his room. Jumping on his bed, he sighed, his head was a mess and he was beginning to go insane from all the emotions ripping him apart. By morning he had suppressed his emotions and troubles and was the Jack that everyone knew.

It was almost time for them to put their plan in action. They had to get noticed as a magical group, which wasn't hard but it wasn't easy. At that point, Jack and Danny began to grow closer. It was a weird friendship but it worked. Henley and Danny were often either getting along or feuding, mostly because Danny said something stupid. Jack had gotten used to it however, he brushed off the comments as Danny's way of caring. Some of it did get to Jack but he never ever said anything.

Jack's Idolization of Danny faded away once he realized how good he was at his sleight of hand. Danny wasn't the most amazing person, no as a group they were the most amazing. Jack however began to realize that his idolization once bordered a crush, and once he got to know the other man, he defiantly fell hard for him It didn't help that Danny was Danny, and was straight as a pin, what drove Jack further into despair was the fact that his room was next to Danny's and he could hear whatever was going on when Danny brought a girl home. It was on those nights mostly that Jack would wander out his window, using the fire escape and make his way to the river, where he would sit for hours, dreaming of a different life.

He loved being a horsemen, but he couldn't help but wonder what it was like to have a normal childhood, or at least one where he didn't grow up on the streets. He managed to take PE all the way through middle and high school, allowing him to sneak in and use the showers all the time, keeping him clean. The library and the Laundry Mat seemed to be his only place of peace. If he wasn't studying for school, he was studying ways to be a better sleight. Soon he moved up from sneaking in places like the Boy's locker room, to stealing wallets from tourists. He'd pocket what he could, in hopes of being able to find food. He was a scrawny kid, but in high school he managed to get some muscle and resemble the Jack he was now. Some of his old habits never faded, like always being alert, always ready to run.

Merritt could tell that the kid was a lot tougher than they had given him credit for. He also knew that the kid was younger than they thought. At first the kid looked like he could pass for for 20, but as he was around more, the mannerisms he had showed otherwise, also the kid was small and not very tall. The longer Jack had been around, the taller and more filled out he got.

Knowing it was a night that Danny would probably bring a girl home, Merritt convinced Jack to go out and teach him the ways of throwing cards, and Merritt would teach him mentalism. Through the evening, Merritt would pick up on things Jack would say or do, and as much as he didn't want to break the kid's trust, he needed answers so he put Jack in a state and asked away.

"What's your name?"

"Jack Ian Wilder." Jack answered.

"How old are you?"

"18."

"Who are your parents?"

"Dad left when I was 7, mom died of cancer when I was 13."

"where do you live?"

"I used to live on the streets but now I live with my friends."

"who do you have feelings for?" Merritt asked.

"Danny."

Merritt did his thing and brought Jack out of the hypnotic state, and told him that he had gotten lost in thought staring at the riverbank. Jack was suspicious but dropped it for now. It was well into the night that they returned to the apartment. Crawling into his bed, Jack drank some of the whiskey he had stolen awhile back and closed his eyes, hoping sleep would come sooner rather than later.

 **A/N: Here I am with a new story when i need to finish all my old ones, oh well. Leave a review and let me know what ya think :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Jack some how managed to weasel his way into Danny's mind, in a way that he had never thought of before. So in response, he hooked up with as many girls as he could bed, in hopes of changing his thoughts. He didn't want to think of Jack in such a way, because he was younger, he was his roommate of sorts, and also someone he saw on a daily basis, but no matter how many girls he slept with, he couldn't accept that he was straight. It was hard, sexuality was a very difficult thing to understand, and for him, he didn't want to be the odd man out. In time he realized he was gay, it just was a realization one night.

Danny brought home more guys than girls at some point and that's where Jack truly fell apart on the inside. He did his job, and what was needed, but when that was over, he was in his room moping. The closer it got to the show, the more he wanted to quit. Months and months had gone into this, but his heart wasn't in it now. Being a sleight was how he fended for himself, but now, he wasn't sure why he was doing. Maybe it was to prove he was the greatest the world had ever seen, or maybe his Dad, somewhere out there would see, and think Jack was worth loving, worthy of having a parent.

Merritt Saw the changes in both of them and sighed to himself. Danny was being an asshole, and Jack was stuck somewhere in that head of his. As the heist grew closer, Merritt did notice Danny being nicer to Jack, and they managed to talk more. One time he found Danny on the couch with Jack beside them and they were debating the best escape artists. Both disagreed but to see them interacting was interesting. Merritt saw how Jack's eyes would trail off for a moment when he was looking at Danny- when Danny looked away. Jack disagreed with Danny, and said Houdini was the best, where as Danny said Lionel Shrike was. Danny got very into this argument, and was set on proving why he was right. He was slowly getting more hostile- or at least the most hostile he had been with Jack so far.

"If you two ladies are done arguing, may I suggest a kiss to makeup, but anyways, we have a gig- we're going to preform for someone and hopefully get noticed by Tressler."

Danny gaped at him for a millisecond and said, "right, okay. when is the show?"

"next week." Merritt said as he eyed the two on the couch before wandering out to do whatever it is the hell he did on his spare time.

Jack stood abruptly and practically ran to his room, where he locked the door and face planted into his bed. He got special instructions from The Eye, that at one point he would need to fake his death- hence the Death Card. Or so Jack assumed. The Eye told him that they would tell him when it was to occur and when to begin the process. It was a lot on him, he was specifically told not to tell anyone.

The gig went well, they impressed the people they were supposed to, and now they had a few small shows and were set to play Vegas if they sold out every venue leading up to it. The real work began to happen. They hypnotized a French guy to come to the vegas show, the one they were going to convince he robbed the bank.

Somewhere in the mess of things, Merritt decided that they all needed to go out and celebrate. Jack didn't bring up the fact that he wasn't legal, and kept silent- his fake ID hadn't failed him yet. Danny wasn't big on drinking, he liked control- he needed it, and alcohol disrupted that. Henley picked the place- it was a nice club, it wasn't too crowded but had a good vibe to it.

Jack sat at the counter with his drink of choice- Jack and Coke. Merritt came up beside him and handed him two shots and said, "your turn, every one of us did two shots."

"Nah I'm good." Jack tried to say.

Merritt sighed, and then did his mentalist thing on Jack, getting him to take the two shots, which were probably closer to doubles. Merritt brought him out of it before wandering off again. Jack felt warm and light headed, but soon downed a few more shots. His tolerance wasn't as high as Merritt's he was also pretty small for size and it hit him harder than he would've liked had be known. Nearly an hour later, Jack managed to stumble his way to his friends, completely wasted. Henley was the most sober, then Merritt. Danny, who had the lowest tolerance was not as bad as Jack but on his way. The two wandered away back to the bar and managed to get their hands on tequila. Jack was beyond wasted at this point, ad Danny wasn't much further.

Somehow the two ended up in a cab on the way back to their apartment. The moment they made it through the door, they started kissing. Danny led Jack to his room where they drunkenly fucked. Jack felt so amazing, but the sober 1% of him knew he couldn't wake up in Danny's bed and somehow managed to get his shit together long enough to get to his room, lock the door and pass out under the covers.

The next morning was hell for Jack. Everything hurt and he had no recall of anything after finishing his first drink. Getting dressed, he slipped on some sweat pants and a random t-shirt. He wondered why he was naked when he woke up but figured he probably stripped his clothes off because he didn't want to puke on them. Going to the bathroom, he took a quick shower, trying to wake up and wash away the smell of liquor and sweat. It was slowly that he put the pieces together. He realized that he must have slept with someone but he didn't remember who. Coming out of the bathroom clean, he kept silent as he creeped into the kitchen to get food.

At the table he saw Danny sitting there eating a bowl of cereal. It wasn't until he got closer that he realized Danny had hickies all over his neck. Danny hadn't seen or heard him walking in, so Jack decided to bail on the idea of food and booked it out of there and back into his room before anyone noticed. Locking the door, he began to pace and panic. Changing into a pair of skinny jeans, he put on his belt and everything he would possibly need (jacket, wallet, keys, phone, shoes) and crept out his window silently.

It wasn't until he was on the other side of the city, that he let go of the breath he was holding. He wanted to cry, he didn't know how to feel, or what to say. So he sat in front of the river for a little while before disappearing into the crowd. He did not want anyone to find him, which meant he was going to go find an old friend and disappear for a bit. Mozzie was good at that, he didn't ask questions- or too many questions that is and he always knew good food.

Finding his way to one of the many safe houses Mozzie had, he let himself in. Mozzie sat on his couch, almost as if he was expecting him.

"Hey kid."

"Hey Moz." Jack said softly.

"How's it going, I heard you got some new friends and were moving up in the world."

"I am, but its complicated."

"Love is such."

"We went out last night and I cant remember what happened, but I saw Danny in the kitchen with hickies on his neck, and I think I did it." Jack said into his hands as he sat on the couch, with his head down.

"Jack, do they know anything about you?"

"They know what they think they know. They don't know my age, where I'm from, or who I'm friends with."

"I know the Eye probably does."

"Probably, but the horsemen don't,"

"Its probably best that way."

"I know about Neal, I saw him in France. He looked good."

"The FBI was after him, they wouldn't ever let him quit."

"I have a feeling I will have them after me too. I'm not to tell anyone but I need your help. I need a fed car and a body that can go up in it."

"A fiery Death for the sleight?"

"That's the plan." Jack said softly.

"I can help you…All I ask is-"

"- I know, a nice bottle of wine, and a con. So what do you want it to be?"

"Find the Lady. Same Place where Neal was." Mozzie said.

"Fine, I'll do it. But only for a bit, I need to stay under the radar, I know they're probably looking for me already."

"that's fine. I have friends in the FBI I can tell not to look into it. If Peter Burke is on your tail, you have no hope. He caught Neal every single time."

"Got it- avoid agent Peter Burke." Jack Confirmed.

"Good Luck, I'll send you a pigeon telling you where to find the needed items- when do you need them?"

"Get the car ready for me, but the body will be short notice. I don't know when, It could be a few, days it could be a month."

"Got it. I'll send instructions where to find everything." Mozzie said with a nod, before going back to his book.

Jack left and went to the park, where he made 100$ playing find the lady, before scattering into the crowd when the cops showed up.

Going to Brooklyn, Jack found a hidden secluded spot to sit and stare at the riverbank. The water crashed against the edge of the bank, the sound of the waves brought him peace. His mom used to say, "The ocean is a big place, but no matter what, it will always bring you home." Watching the sunset, he sighed. His ass hurt like hell, he was hungry and couldn't concentrate.

Finding his way back to the apartment, he snuck back in through his window and passed out in his bed, tired from all the draining thoughts and walking.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny woke up in bed with his head pounding, and stomach lurching. Crawling out of bed, he realized he was naked. After putting pants on, he ran to the bathroom to throw up. Once everything he drank was in the toilet and not his stomach, he felt a bit better. Brushing his teeth, he noticed that his neck was covered in hickies. Sighing he went back to his room, grabbed a T-shirt and went to eat breakfast.

He heart Jack's door open, the bathroom door close and then silence. Merritt came into the kitchen, "You got so wasted last night."

"I know. I can feel the hangover, thank you captain obvious."

"Do you remember anything?"

"why?" Danny asked, the question Merritt asked was totally loaded.

"Just wondering, you had shot after shot after shot."

"I remember the beginning of the night." Danny said into his cereal.

"I didn't see who you left with but it was someone."

"yup."

"It was male… no it was a Female. You did the fucking."

"Can you not." Danny said with anger.

"okay, okay. Chill out." Merritt said before wandering back to his room.

Danny thought about it. What Merritt said did have some truth to it. While he didn't remember who it was, he remembered that he did the fucking, or at least thats what he thought happened. His ass didn't hurt so he knew he didn't take any last night. Continuing to eat, He heard the bathroom door open, silence and then Jack's door open a few moments later.

Putting his bowl in the sink, Danny retreated back to his room. He heard silence coming from Jack's room, until the window opened and then closed softly. Danny watched as Jack climbed down the fire escape and disappeared. Laying in his bed, Danny noticed how faint the bed smelt of cologne, which led him to construct the idea that who ever he had bedded the night before was a guy. It wasn't until he was in between asleep and awake that he realized that it smelt like Jack. It made his chest hurt. He didn't know how to feel.

On one handed, he knew that he probably would not have bedded Jack had he been more sober. On the other, he wanted to remember what it was like, what Jack's body looked like beside his own. Danny knew Jack was a Skinny guy, but he wanted to know if Jack had muscle underneath those leather jackets. Danny felt bad, like he used Jack for his own personal needs. Had he pushed Jack away after they finished? Was that why he woke up alone? Was Jack mad at him?

He spent most of the day in bed, moping around. That is until Henley came in and told him to get up and practice for the up coming show. Henley knocked on Jack's door and got no response.

"He wandered out at some point. Cant tell you how long ago or why."

"It doesn't take being a mentalist to know that you guys slept together last night."

"What." Danny said sitting up.

"One, I saw you two leave together so don't bother. And two, you're moping and he left without a word to anyone."

"I don't remember anything."

"Do you think he does?"

"he might not, but it would've only taken him a few minutes to figure it out."

"What do you think he's feeling right now?" Henley asked.

"Confused, Dirty? I don't know."

"What do you feel?" she asked.

"Like I took advantage of him somehow, we both were drunk. I want to remember it- I…I like him and I never planned on acting on that. We're the horsemen, we're supposed to pull of this huge mission, get into the eye and become legends."

"And we're going to do that. But there's nothing wrong with finding love along the way."

"It's a weakness." Danny grumbled.

"No. It makes you human. Either way, when he comes back, you should talk to him. Clear the air. He likes you Danny, Merritt sees it, I see it, anyone with eyes and knows him, can see it, even though he's very, very good at hiding it."

Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I think you're good for him, and he's good for you. You don't see him as someone who admires you, nor does he look at you like an idol. He looks at you with pure emotion. Don't break his heart by rejecting him, or telling him you didn't intend for that to happen.

Just be open, You both were drunk, and you'd rather you both had been sober but it happened, and you like him. You liked him and the drunken you acted upon those feelings." Henley explained.

Danny nodded, what she said made sense, even if he never wanted to admit it.

The next few days in the apartment were tense. Danny wanted to talk to Jack but Jack avoided everyone, and didn't talk to anyone. He still contributed to the plan, but he wasn't there for when they took breaks or goofed around as comedic relief from the seriousness it was.

It was on the third day that Danny chose to confront Jack. He was quite certain that Jack was in his room. Getting some tools, he picked the lock and silently opened Jack's door. Danny saw him sitting on the floor, holding a bottle of whiskey, and looking dazed.

"Hey Jack." he said softly.

"GoAway." he mumbled.

"Look man, you've been avoiding all of us for several days, I think we need to talk."

"please don't kick me out, I promise I'll contribute more."

"what? Jack we don't want to kick you out. We just want to know whats going on in that head of yours. You've been disappearing, showing up late at night."

"I'm not in trouble if that's what you're thinking."

"I'm sure you've pieced together what happened the other night, so have I. I am sorry if I violated you, or made you do anything you didn't want to do."

"Its not that I Didn't want to do it….I did…But I feel like we've crossed a line and I don't know where we stand."

"I like you Jack….I really do. I've struggled to come to terms with it but I have."

"I like you too." Jack said softly.

"now tell me what's going on in that head of yours."

"I…I…Its so hard…if you knew…you'd hate me."

"Jack, I dont think I could hate you. You may irritate me but most people do that."

"I'm not entirely who or what you think I am."

"what do you mean?"

"the….I…I'm…I'm sorry." Jack mumbled before getting up and practically running out of his room, into the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny sighed as he watched Jack run. Merritt knocked on the door, "I…I know what he's hiding because I made him tell me."

"How?" Danny asked.

"How else? I used my magic on him."

"I want to know….but I don't want to violate his trust like you did."

"Fine….he's 18. that's all I'll tell you." Merritt sighed.

"what." Danny said confused. He never thought Jack could be that young, he always thought he was in his 20s at least.

"He's….18?" Danny asked with hesitation, to confirm.

"Yes, he's…had it rough…I don't blame him for keeping it a secret, it wasn't easy. Hell, compared to half the stuff I've seen, the kid has fought like hell to make it."

It took awhile, but Jack finally came out of the bathroom. He held his head down as he walked slowly to the couch where he flopped down and refused to make eye contact.

"I guess you want answers." He mumbled softly. He was so un-Jack like that it was creepy.

"Only what you're comfortable telling." Danny assured him. It was odd for Merritt, so see them both so not like themselves. Danny was being patient and understanding, and Jack was being timid and reserved.

"What do you want to know?" Jack asked.

"How old are you?"

"I…I'm…I'm 18."

"How old were you when we first met?" Danny asked.

"nearly 17, I turned 18 several months into living here. We've been here what, almost over a year? I'm turning 19 in a while."

"What's your full name?" Danny asked

"Jack Ian Wilder." Jack answered.

"where did you live before you came here?

"I used to live on the streets, anywhere I could find that people wouldn't bother me."

"how..how long were you on the streets?"

" well Dad left when I was 7, mom died of cancer when I was 13, so ever since she died."

"That's rough…Can we talk about what happened the other day?" Danny asked.

"I..okay…what's there to say? We both got really drunk? That we hooked up and neither of us can remember it and we know we have shit to do for the eye, the show is in about a week and we still need to practice it all?" Jack said in a very Danny-like matter.

"Jack, calm down. I know things are speeding up around here, we're going to be okay. We're gonna pull off the Vegas show, and then we're gonna pull New Orleans, and New York. We don't need to be panicking, we've rehearsed this all for the better part of a year. We are all good at what we do." Danny said in reassurance, which was so out of character for him.

Jack, with his big brown eyes, looked up at Danny, "you're right."

"I'm J. Daniel Atlas, of course I'm right." Danny said in a very matter- of-fact tone, making Jack smile.

"I know I don't remember the other night, but I don't regret it. It happened, and well….I like you Danny."

"I like you too." Danny said softly, he wasn't one to talk about his emotions very easily.

"I know that I'm young- younger than you all thought…but In reality, I'm not young. I've seen life, death, I've been jumped, I've survived on the streets for 5 years, I'm not young anymore, I couldn't be."

"How long have you been doing magic?"

"Since I was little, Once I ended up on the streets, I became a pro at find the lady, I met some people, they took me under their wing, taught me even more, and they've gone back to hiding in the shadows. Neal, he was like a big brother to me…He worked for the FBI as a consultant. His best friend, Moz, he also taught me a lot."

"What happened to them?" Danny asked.

"Moz crawled back underground after Neal died. He had been to close to the sun, too friendly with the feds and had to disappear back into the shadows after awhile. When we were in Paris, I saw him. Neal looked so happy there."

"wait what?" Danny asked confused.

"Neal had to fake his death, the FBI was never going to let him out of his prison sentence. The only way was for Neal to die. Now he goes by David Wilder…He took a piece of me with him. I felt so honored, I know that him using my last name may lead trouble to him, but the eye promised to protect him- as long as he stayed out of trouble and helped when he could."

"The fedora, and the origami flower…that was him?"

"Yeah. He's the best sleight next to me. He taught me how to pick pockets, locks, everything. One time we…hypothetically, we stole the Raphael painting. However, only Neal was ever blamed or questioned for it."

"You've pulled heists?"

"Yes. It's not what I really wanted to do, and I wasn't fond of the FBI after Neal, but I managed to stay hidden, I was never suspected. I wanted to do magic, and be the best sleight of hand the world had ever seen, but I also needed to make ends meet, I needed food, and a place to sleep. Neal gave me those when he could, as did Moz. I met them right after my mom died, I was 12, a week shy of 13. They took me in, helped me learn. I did the Raphael heist when was 14. No one suspected a kid to be behind it. Once Neal went to Prison, I went back to magic and stealing wallets. I fell down the rabbit hole after that. I was 16, all alone and living in a rundown warehouse by the docks. I heard Neal had died, and it pushed me over the edge, that's when I threw myself further into magic, I pushed myself to be the absolute best. I had looked up to Neal and You for the longest time. I wanted to be the very best."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, all while I put myself through school."

"Damn Jack, You honestly have beat the odds in so many ways." Danny said softly.

"I wasn't going to let them beat me down into submission, and that's why I'm a horsemen, I'm strong, quick and skilled. But I want to be more than just that, I want to be a friend, a lover, apart of a family."

"I'm not going to lie to you, I woke up the next morning with no recollection, and at first I was okay with that. Then Henley told me that she saw me leave with you, that it was You that it happened with. I wanted to remember. I felt like i had taken advantage of you, whether or not you wanted to, you were drunk and there was still a lot I didn't know about you." Danny confessed.

"I remember parts and pieces, but not much. I remember getting up and then I remember waking up in my bed."

"Why did you leave?"

"I was afraid that when you woke up, you'd hate me." Jack admitted.

"I cant lie about how I would have reacted, because I don't know how I would have. But I know that I could never hate you. Never."

Jack gave him a sad smile and looked down at his hands. he knew that when he faked his death, Danny would be mad he didn't know sooner.

"So where do we stand?" Jack asked after a few moments.

"I'd like to pursue this, we both feel something, so lets see where it goes." Danny suggested.

Jack nodded. Part of him knew it could only end badly, but he didn't care.


	5. Chapter 5

In the time that Danny and Jack began to see each other, things in the plan began to speed up. Soon it was almost time for the 4 horsemen to make their debut in Vegas. Jack knew that once it started, there was no turning back. He felt guilty for not telling Danny, but he knew he wasn't allowed to.

Their first date, was a walk alongside the river- Jack's river. Jack showed Danny an intimate part of his past. In turn, Danny showed him his favorite place to get coffee- the place full of the least amount of idiots.

Jack was confident in his abilities, as well as the other horsemen's, but he still had an anxiety in him that didn't quite go away. Danny and Jack had yet to do any real intimate things like have sex or anything of the sorts. The most they did was kiss, and fall asleep next to each other, and wakeup in the other's arms. Jack was grateful they hadn't gone all the way (again), but to be fair, did the first time really count since they both didn't remember it? Jack had scars all over from his time living on the streets, and he didn't really want to have to talk about them, or explain how he got them. Many of them were very agitated still, and still as discolored as when he had originally received them.

The vegas show was in a week, Jack was getting more nervous, and Danny was getting more arrogant. Henley nearly smacked Danny on a hourly basis, while Jack was rolling in anxiety, which he hid very well.

Henley suggested that Danny and Jack have a special night together before the show, and before their lives changed forever. Danny took Jack on a nice date, where they went to a movie, and got ice cream afterwards. Jack had relaxed quite a bit throughout the evening. All the tension he had felt melted away when it was just Danny and him. There was no one to impress, or try to con, it was just them, without all their walls and attitudes.

When they returned home, they were both still relaxed and enjoying their evening. It was late, but they laid together in bed and talked about anything from the movie, to the show next week. Jack did his best to not allude to him being nervous, or to his "death". He hated that he couldn't tell Danny about it, he had received instructions stating so.

The plane ride to vegas wasn't the longest plane ride, but it still seemed to drag on. It was the first time Jack had ever been on a plane, and he wasn't going to tell his friends that so they could make fun of him. Danny wasn't a fan of planes, because he wasn't in control, but it was one of the few times that he just sucked it up and kept quiet.

By the time they got there, Arthur Tressler was showing how much of a douchebag he truly was, and that made the horsemen justify what they were doing even further. It was the day before the show, and the stage had been set up- the eye had their people doing it so that it would be kept a secret and contained.

The night before was a lot of emotions for everyone. They were about to do something so crazy, that they had to stay on track and not get distracted. Jack and Danny both kissed one last time before starting this chaos the next morning because they knew that they had to lock up their emotions in order to stay on track and not get distracted.

Jack slept alone on the couch, he couldn't sleep in a bed, and not be lonely, for he had fallen asleep next to Danny so many times that without the other magician, it didn't feel right. The following morning was full of excitement but also Anxiety. Jack was already dressed for the day by the time the others were getting up. The shower he took did nothing for his anxiety, and it was only 8 am.

He skipped breakfast, and went straight to drinking only water. His stomach was too upset to try and keep anything down- he had tried eating earlier and it made a reappearance in the toilet. His hands shook when he held them out, a dead giveaway for his nervousness. By 10 am, everyone else was up, and Jack and put up his final wall around himself that kept him calm.

At Noon they went to the place where the show was gonna be, and ran a walk through on the big stage. By 3pm, they were all backstage eating snacks and discussing the plan for afterwards. Danny noticed that Jack wasn't eating but didn't say anything, he figured the kid was too nervous to eat. As his boyfriend however- which was an emotion he was trying to keep under control, he was worried a bit, but as J. Daniel Atlas, he had to worry about the show.

Soon the house doors opened, and the audience was taking their seats. The show was set to begin at 8pm. Jack ate half an an orange before they went on stage. The show went smooth, and according to plan. They called upon their Audience member they set up, and everything went according to plan. The crowd was insane, they loved every moment of it.

The moment the show was over, the horsemen were off to celebrate a little bit before going back to their hotel penthouse suite at the Aria . Jack, who had basically never ate all day, was pretty much drunk off his ass by the time they got back in. The lack of food in his stomach made the alcohol hit him so much harder. Danny was in a better state, but was intoxicated quite a bit. Merritt seemed to be the only one with his shit together.

It didn't take long after they were back for Jack to start to feel sick and he soon was throwing up in the toilet for several hours. In fact, he had passed out with his face laying on his arm as he was basically hugging the toilet. Henley was the first one up, and she took a picture of Jack, it was kind of funny. She woke Jack Up, had him brush his teeth, change his clothes, and then fall asleep on the couch.

When Jack woke up, he didn't remember changing, or being woke up by Henley. He shrugged it off and was looking in the fridge when Danny came rushing in and said, "The FBI is downstairs, its only a matter of minutes before they come up here, everyone be ready."

Jack nodded and was ready, he put up all his walls and closed the fridge, not hungry anymore. Instead he downed a water and several pain killers for his headache, and the headache he knew the FBI was about to cause.

When they came in, Jack was waiting, it was a game after all, and the FBI thought they had won. He sat in a chair by the window, with his feet up while Merritt was reading a book. They grinned as they walked through the casino floor of the Aria.

Danny and Merritt were integrated, while Jack and Henley waited for their turns. Jack sat there sleeping, while Henley played with the chair sitting in front of her.

Agent Rhodes was annoyed, he was irritated, but Danny was his usual arrogant self.

"We're always going to be one step, three steps, seven steps in front of you, and when I want it, we'll be right behind you. Because the closer you are, the less you see." Danny then got the hand cuffs off himself and onto the agent, and swapped out the phones before the soda could get on it.

It was a short time later that they all had been released. Jack carried his leather jacket, it was far too hot to put it on, it had to be at least 105 out in the Vegas sun. As they flew to the next show on Arthur's jet, they set him up, they got all the information needed for the security questions on his bank details.

The Show was happening, and quick to happen. Jack was practically laughing when Thaddeus Bradley pulled out the card that said, "suck it." out of his jacket pocket. Overall, the evening went quickly, and soon the FBI would raid, and they had the exit plan already set up. First they would grab ropes that would repel them upwards to the catwalks. Danny tossed Jack the tracking device as Jack ran out first. Soon they were on the streets of the french quarters, dodging and weaving through the crowds. Jack wore a blue Police officer's shirt and hat, and dropped the tracking device in Agent Rhodes's pocket before running off.

Things were happening quickly, and it was only a matter of time before they slipped up.


	6. Chapter 6

They were Back in New York when the firewalls dropped on the computers. Danny Smashed Agent Rhodes's phone but they knew they had mere hours before the FBI showed up. Jack had called Mozzie from the plane, Mozzie had found a body double for Jack, as well as a car. Mozzie also was ready with the plan, Jack's car would go up on the bridge, and Jack Wilder would die.

In the apartment, they were burning things. Jack was worried, he didn't want to go to jail if they got caught, his fingerprints would go into the system and then he would be connected to the Raphael and all the other crap he did with Neal.

"I don't want to go to Jail." Jack said as he burned the papers.

"Do you want some bronzer? Or a campy, I have pads if you need them." Henley Taunted. Jack sighed, sometime she was a mega bitch.

"Then don't screw up. You're always asking to be treated like an Adult, now might be a good time to start acting like one. Stick to the plan" Danny said as he shoved more papers to Jack, in this world, they weren't dating, they were the horsemen. The look Jack gave Danny as Danny slapped his shoulder, was heart breaking. Danny had no clue what was about to go down, and Jack had no chance to now tell him.

Burning the papers, he tried to stay in his walls, but he was cracking, he knew that after his "death" Danny would realize that the last thing he said to him was kinda fucked up.

Danny looked out the window and said softly, "guys they're here."

Jack took a deep breath, and looked at his friends one last time, he knew it was time. He heard the door open and hid on top of the book case, with most of his weight on the door, it was time to fight.

Grabbing a wet rag, he shoved it in the agent's mouth and manipulated his jacket so that the agents arms were behind him and about to be destroyed in the garage disposal. Agent Rhodes heard his partner's screams and came running.

Jack took the agent's belt and used it to grab Agent Rhodes's gun and toss it aside. Agent Rhodes and Jack struggled. Jack used agent Rhodes's hand cuffs and tied him to the table. Taking the Walkie Talkie, He looked at the Agent.

"You little shit." Agent Rhodes Said.

"You little shit." Jack repeated, sounding exactly the same.

In Agent Rhode's voice he said, "we're good 6 go to 7."

Jack grabbed a file, shoved it in his jacket and threw the flammable paper at Rhodes, it sparking in his face. Rhodes hit Jack, and Jack fell to the floor, scrambling to get up, grabbed his cards. Putting his hands up, he was ready.

"Really?" Rhodes said as Jack showed his cards,

"Really." He said as he began to throw them, hitting Rhodes in the face and cutting him.

Running out the door, he jumped into the garbage shoot and slide down, papers in his mouth. Rhodes came down after him. they crash landed, Jack dropping the papers. Rhodes went for them, but Jack was faster, he then stepped on Rhodes and ran for the car outside after climbing a bunch of buildings and running out to the street.

Jack Weaved through traffic, trying to lose the FBI, but it was to no avail, they were not going anywhere. He turned onto the 59th street bridge, he knew shit was about to go down. Mozzie was there, in position. Weaving through traffic, he got in front of the bus, and the bus cut off Agent Rhodes and Interpol Agent Alma Dray. Alma cut over to the next lane, just in time to see Jack's car hit the center divide and roll several times. The screeched to a stop.

Agent Rhodes got out and sprinted to Jack's car, trying to pull him out but his FBI partner pulled him back, the car was about to blow up.

They sprinted away from the car moments before it blew up, the impact pushing them into the parked BMW they had acquired previously.

The three horsemen sat in a undisclosed area watching the news. It hit Danny hard, very hard. He didn't know what to say. Henley was barely holding herself together, and Merritt shook his head, the kid was young, so incredibly young and he went out like that.

Meanwhile, Jack was with Mozzie, making sure he had no broken bones and whatnot. He was sore from fighting several FBI agents, but he managed to come out with only bruises and minor stress fractures- no broken bones.

He sat on the couch holding his head. He figuratively just killed himself and he didn't know how to feel. There was no more Jack Wilder, just Jack. He hoped that after all of this, Danny would understand why he couldn't tell him.

Mozzie could tell that the kid was very stressed out.

The three horsemen filmed a video addressing Jack's Death.

Danny Spoke,

"Jack.. he wanted to be the greatest magician to have ever lived. Wherever he is, we hope it is full of magic…but the point is…"Danny choked for a moment, "sorry, the point is."

"- the point is that we are to say that we are not, will not and cannot quit now. we have started something bigger than all of us, and we have to finish it." Merritt interrupted.

Jack watched the video. He saw how upset Danny looked no matter how much he tried to hide it. It broke Jack's heart.

Mozzie handed Jack a bottle of wine, and patted his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"After…I have another part of the mission. I still need your help." Jack told him, as he then began to give mozzie the information needed to pull the last part of the trick.

Jack then made a phone call, while Mozzie drove. The other horsemen were ordered to move a safe, and put in a mirror, to make the room look empty. They knew that someone in the eye would take care of the last part of the trick- they had directly been told so via a note left on a deck of cards, the Jack of Hearts being the top card.

The Horsemen did the final show on the top of the building.

Jack broke the glass with his sledge hammer, got into the safe, and stole the money, placing it in Thaddeus Bradley's Range Rover.

The three horsemen walked up to the gates of central park, and saw that it was look. Henley sighed as she grabbed it.

Jack walked up out of the shadows, from the other side.

"Haven't you been listening? Nothing's ever locked." He smiled as he undid it. Danny didn't know what to feel. He was so glad Jack wasn't dead, but so mad too.

Henley smiled, "well done Mr. Wilder."

"you're a big boy now." Merritt said.

Danny said nothing.

When they walked up to the shrike tree and their cards went to it, and then the Carousel came on, they followed the sounds. Standing before them was FBI agent Dylan Rhodes.

"when I said to be the smartest guy in the room-"

"we were in agreement." Dylan finished.

Henley was Speechless.

"I am so sorry for kicking your ass." Jack said in shock.

Dylan explained a few things cryptically, before leading them in, they made it. They were apart of the eye.


	7. Chapter 7

Danny avoided Jack. They lived in the same apartment (no, not the one that got raided), and Danny refused to talk to Jack. No matter what Jack tried to say, Danny refused to hear him out. Over time it began to wear Jack down. Days turned to weeks, to months into 6 months.

Jack came and went as he pleased, he wandered around the river bank most days. On his birthday, he went to his mother's grave for a while before taking a cab to where he "died"- the 39th street bridge. He felt a lot of melancholy. On one hand, he was glad that he hadn't died, but on the other, he missed talking to his friends- being with Danny. Since his "death" Danny avoided him and never acknowledged him, Henley ended up leaving three months after joining. She wanted an out and the Eye gave it to her, so now it was the three men in the apartment and Merritt was the only one to talk to Jack. And of course, don't forget that Jack could not draw attention to himself, or go to crowded places because he was technically dead.

Jack started staying out later, and rarely coming back. Merritt tried to talk to Danny about it, but it never went far. It was on the 6th month that Merritt forced Danny to listen.

"Look Daniel, You need to hear Jack out. He's your Boyfriend."

"What for? He lied to me."

"Not exactly, he with held information, but he was instructed to. You know he wanted to. You could tell he was hiding something- and he didn't want to. It doesn't take a mentalist to figure that out." Merritt said to Danny.

Danny sighed, "fine."

Jack was out currently. He sat on the river with a pipe and his lighter. Taking a hit, he let the weed hit him intensely. With his old friends, he would joke about his ,"momma didn't raise a little bitch."whenever he killed a bottle or smoked a huge amount.

Putting his stuff back in his pockets, he relaxed for a moment. Good weed had a way of taking you out of your head, and let you just feel. He loved the feeling of floating, and being weightless. Once he was good to move, he headed back to the apartment. Up the fire escape he went into his room, where he crawled into bed and fell asleep.

Danny and Merritt waited for Jack to return. They opened his door to find him asleep. Danny sighed and decided that when Jack woke up, they would talk.

Jack slept for a few hours until he got up to go to the bathroom. Danny sat on the couch waiting. The moment Jack was out of the bathroom, Danny called out to him softly, "Jack."

Jack turned around quickly to face Danny.

Danny sat there with his knee bouncing, and a nervous expression on his face.

Jack stood there frozen. Danny took in Jack's appearance, he was thinner than he ever remembered, Danny could tell by the way his leather jacket hung off him and the way his cheeks were sunken in. His eyes were lifeless, and clouded.

"Jack…we need to talk…we…I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ignored you and never let you explain."

"I..its okay…I wanted to tell you…but I was told not to…and I didn't want to anger the eye, and have them take away what they had been doing for us…I wanted to tell you all the time…but I couldn't and it killed me."

"I'm sorry I pushed you away. I thought I lost you, and it hurt so bad, I didn't know what to do or how to feel. When I found out you were alive, it made me angry, it made me see how with the life we live, how easily something could go wrong and I could lose you." Danny said as Jack crossed over and sat down beside him on the couch.

"you pushing me away, it hurt, I'm not gonna lie. I felt like you didn't want me here, that I didn't deserve to be in the eye."

"Jack, you belong here just as much as I do. You're the best sleight of hand, pickpocket I know besides myself. You are a huge member of this group…and my life. I tried to avoid you, to make it not hurt, to make you go away but it tortured me. I'm truly sorry that I put us through this,and you through this. I want to make things right, even if that means saying goodbye to our relationship officially."

"I…I don't want to lose you…I'm willing and open to using this as a learning experience, and moving forward, through this rough spot."

"We can take it slow, as slow as we need to." Danny said softly.

The rest of the night they sat there on the couch talking about Jack's death and how he pulled it off, and what he had to do in order to do it. By 1am, they were tired but well aquatinted with one another again on a emotional level. Jack however didn't tell Danny about the smoking or excessive drinking he had been doing as of late. The two talked until they fell asleep next to each other on the couch. Merritt wandered out to the kitchen for water at some point and tossed a blanket on top of them and took a picture. He was glad the boys were talking again, and back to the normal before things literally blew up.

The following morning, Jack woke up with his head on Danny's chest, and Danny's arm around. He felt content in that moment, that he could live in this memory for ever. Danny made him feel things he couldn't even begin to understand. Danny made him feel safe, and warm, and wanted. Being without him for so long was hard, he hadn't been handling it well at all. It was only a matter of time before he got called out on his whack, not normal eating habits and the drinking. Well now, technically he no longer had a reason to drink since Danny didn't hate him, but quitting was harder than anything.


	8. Chapter 8

Danny never told Jack that he went off to contact the eye. It was something that he just never seemed to bring up- there was no need. So when the girl Lula ended up in the apartment, he was quite disturbed despite not showing it. When she said she knew Jack was alive, he got defensive immediately. She rambled on and said, "Which is a shame, because have you seen that man's face…its beautiful."

Danny had to calm himself down, and he simply replied, "Well thats a shame because he's dead…so goodbye." she did her whole decapatation thing, Danny tied her up trying to keep her still while he went to call any of the others, but she got out of all the knots. When he turned around she was gone.

Danny told Jack about it as they were called to meet with Dylan. They walked in to see him with Lula. Neither of the two wanted to accept her as the newest horsemen. Just because the eye said so, didn't mean it was fact, or that it was going to happen. Merritt seemed to accept her the easiest.

It took a few days, but Jack was less awkward around Lula, though she was constantly flirting. Jack would just scratch his head, stutter and make a reason to leave, and go to his room. He'd then go out his fire escape and in through Danny's window into Danny's room, where he would quietly complain about how uncomfortable it made him. The couple had yet to establish their relationship to anyone outside of the apartment, no one apart from Dylan, Merritt, Henley and Possibly the eye, knew about them.

By the time for the first show, Jack was ready to go out and get it over with so Lula would leave them alone until the next mission. Danny and Jack spent the night before on a date, on the rooftop. Rather than stress and slightly panic the night before, they knew they were set, and they just had to do the show.

In the time it took for Danny and Jack to get close again, Jack had yet to really put on any weight that he had lost in his several months of isolation and depression. He also drank quite a bit when Danny wasn't around. Any time he could, Jack drank what he could get his hands on. He sobered up a few days before the show, and kept sober, he needed to be on his A game.

So when it came time for the show, everyone was in place, and doing their job. Jack worked security as Danny entered as a waiter and left as someone getting a paper signed, before heading down to the basement with the equipment room. He switched out the servers before security came (which was Jack) and made his exit. Jack slipped the banana into the guys pocket and told him he was, "entitled to a phone call."

He chuckled as he made his way back to the metal detectors at the entrance. The show began and went off as planned- at first. Soon they realized there was a serious issue. Jack began to make his way through the venue when the tech issue pointed out that he was alive and went to a spotlight on him. He kept calm appearances as he ran away, but internally he was having a massive panic attack and felt like passing out. Together, the four Horsemen ran away together and out to the rooftop. As they made it to the tube they were taking to a truck, Jack was having a hard time breathing, he was dizzy too. Jumping feet first into the tunnel, he passed out before he was even moving. Merritt pushed Jack and went in behind him, Danny and Lula following.

Jack came to, on a plane, he was massively confused and scared. He saw Danny and the others passed out. The people who were in charge were shocked to see him awake. He jumped up, swinging. He took out one body guard, and was almost done with the second when a guy looking identical with Merritt came up to him. He knew of Merritt's brother, and that he was a mentalist. Jack fought the mentalist's sleep suggestion as hard as he could. The unknown person came up behind him and hit him over the head, hard.

The others came to in a laundry basket in a kitchen. Getting up, Danny saw that Jack wasn't awake yet. Grabbing him, he carried him out. It was then that Lula said she loved Chinese food, and Merritt came back inside telling them that he thought they were in China. His brother confronted them, and forced them to follow him. Jack was still unconscious.

Chase sat in the front of the car, turned around and said, "Oh by the way, dear little Jack O Lantern has the lights off, its not halloween anymore. Let's just say, he should follow instructions and not resist. I bet he's gonna have a killer headache when he wakes up.."

Danny held back his rage. It was highly likely that Jack remained unconscious because he had a concussion. He could die if he didn't wake up soon. Taking Jack's hands, he felt that they were warm, but not as warm as normal, or at least normal as of the start of their relationship. He was glad Jack had a pulse, but he needed to wake soon. Merritt reached over and checked Jack out, before gently tapping his shoulder until he woke up.

By the time Jack was awake, they were stopped and being pulled out of the car and through a casino. The lights and noises made Jack's head hurt insanely bad. Danny led him to the elevator because he had his eyes closed tight, completely not helping the brain trauma. Going up the elevator only made him more dizzy. By the time they got to the top floor, he wanted to puke, but held it in.

Walter introduced himself and the plan not giving the horsemen any chance to say no. He already showed that if they didn't agree, they'd get hit over the head, and maybe worse. Danny didn't like it at all, he couldn't be in control, nor could he know if Jack was truly okay.

"The world's oldest magic shop is here, lets go and get supplies." Danny said to chase/ Walter, so that they could leave.

As they left, Danny supported Jack's weight almost entirely. Jack was embarrassed, but in so much pain that he currently no longer cared.

It was at the magic shop that Jack nearly blacked out again. Sitting him on a stool, Danny helped him get comfortable before going and looking around the shop. The old lady behind the counter asked what was wrong with Jack, and Lula tried to explain that he got hurt. The lady brought him some herbal tea and some cold water to help him feel better. Danny thanked her and then asked if the shop had what they needed. He talked slower and with his hands, but her grandson translated, "just because you talk slow and with hands, I still cant understand English."

Danny felt a bit embarrassed, his ego had been relatively high as of lately, and Jack hadn't reality checked him as of late.

Getting what they needed in order to smuggle the chip out of the lab, they then went back to where they were staying and practiced things they would need to know- that is after they came up with the game plan. Jack was still in a lot of pain, but he didn't let that stop him. He taught the others how to throw cards, and be good at sleight of hand- or at least good enough to get past guards.

Everything was happening very quickly, one minute they're in New York, the next their in China about to pull a heist because their lives depended on it.


	9. Chapter 9

The following morning came around, and Jack felt better than before. He was still dizzy at times, and loud noises as well as bright lights were irritating, but he had no choice, he had to pull this off. Pushing aside his physical pain, he got into his mindset and was ready to pull this off.

First they infiltrated the group of South African gangsters, and disrupted the group. Next they used the leader to gain access to the lab. Danny assumed he was the doctor, and Lula was the floozy, but they were mistaken, Lula was the doctor. She managed to get her way through the conversation, and tell the guy, "so what gives." They got in, and saw the computer. Jack slide underneath, pulled out the chip, and snuck back, as he hid it in a playing card.

The guards checked them, Jack had the card in his fingers. He flipped it around so that it was behind his fingers when he showed his palm, and in his palm when he turned them around. He practiced long and hard to be able to do that. Next he passed it off to Lula who hid it in her hair, and then in her bra. She pulled off her bra and then held it and she flipped her bra around, managing to hide it the entire time.

Next it was passed off to Danny who sent it through his jacket to Merritt- who was by far the worst at throwing cards. Merritt was panicking and passed it off to Danny again but Danny was being checked so he sent it to Lula. Lula slapped the guard's ass and shoved the card into his belt, where Jack retrieved it when the guard walked by, he passed it to Merritt again when the guards started to come back to him.

Once they were cleared, they all exited the room. Lula walked across first and then Danny. Danny stood next to the gong as he put his belt on, having removed it for the metal detector. Merritt through the card so that it landed on Lula, where she wrapped her coat and secured it on her person, just as Jack's wallet went through the detector- the wallet the guard took earlier and tried to keep. Danny hit the gong with his belt just as that all happened, to help further cause a distraction.

It was a matter of moments later that they were outside and retreating to safety. The plan was to turn it over to the eye, or at least Danny's plan. He went into the marketplace, but realized it was a trap. Dylan was there, and helped him get out of it. He fought the guys off as Danny ran off with the card. Lula, Merritt and Jack watched as a safe- Lionel Shrike's safe was put on the back of a truck outside the magic shop. They felt unsettled, and once Danny was with them, they followed it.

They watched from the shore as it was picked up by a crane and dropped into the water. Dylan was in the safe, they knew it. Danny jumped into the water and swam to help save Dylan. Once he reached the seabed, he grabbed Dylan, who had gotten out of the safe but was out cold now, and brought him to the surface. Merritt and Jack helped pull him out, where they then turned him onto his side and hit his back so that he would cough up the water. It was then that they realized that there was no end to this if they didn't end it.

So they went to the magic shop to regroup and see what they could get. It was there that the shop owner said, "did you really think you didn't have help?" in english, and smiled sweetly as they plotted the show.

On twitter, the horsemen left a cryptic message about New Years Eve, London, and the show.

Immediately Walter and his father were on a jet there.

The only amount of rest Jack got, was on the plane over to London, where he slept for maybe a total of 5 hours, out of the 17 hour plane ride. He was still quite dizzy, nauseous and sensitive to light and sound. It was obvious he had a concussion, but at the moment there was nothing he could do about it. Sucking it up, he prepared what he could for his part of the show. He was gonna do 'find the lady', which was a huge homage to Neal, for Jack. It was while he was leaving Macao that he sent word to Mozzie to contact Neal.

The plane had wifi, so Jack used a tablet to contact Neal, and see how he was doing. Neal, who was in France, would make the trip to London to see Jack, and help out where he could. Mozzie also made the trip, and was already plotting a way to "stuck it to the man."

The plan was set, the pieces and components set in place, it was only a matter of time that they now depended on. The show began tomorrow night, they spent all of today practicing and getting supplies. Jack was still in quite a bit of pain but said nothing, they didn't have the time.

Sucking it up, Jack took a couple Tylenol and kept going. They slept in a rundown motel on the edge of the city, trying to not draw attention to themselves. Danny and Jack shared one bed while Merritt and Dylan shared the other. Lula had opted to sleep on the couch. By morning, all but Danny got adequate sleep. Danny spent hours studying Jack as he slept- in a non creepy way. He observed how his boyfriend seemed so small next to him, and how bony he felt, it was something he hadn't realized before, mostly because Jack always wore long sleeved shirts to bed no matter how hot it was outside. Danny also saw that Jack had a huge bump on the side of his head.

By morning, Danny was looking forward to all of this being over- mostly because he wanted Jack to get examined by a doctor. Getting some sleep, Danny wasn't too cranky, but he was definitely on edge. Not only did they have to deal with Walter and his poodle of a father Arthur, they had to worry about the FBI breathing down their necks.

Danny could tell that Jack was in pain, but they both knew they had to keep going- they were almost to the end, and they couldn't back out now. The day passed slowly, everyone was on edge. By 5pm, they left the motel room and headed for central London, where they would begin. The group prepped together before they all split off. Jack began his card trick at 9:30.

"My name's Jack Wilder, and it is good to be back." Jack said with a smile. He then explained the game and set it up. Neal sat in the crowd, he would let Jack know when the FBI arrived. It only took 12 minutes, but by the time the FBI agents walked into the square, jack and Neal were long gone. Jack then moved into his next place, where Merritt and Chase would see each other, and would "give away" the grand finale.

Danny began his show. He loved how in control he was- out of this whole thing, all he could control was the outcome they wanted, and the rain.

"was that an act of God? No that was an act of me." Danny said cockily.

His show was a success, he managed to end it on schedule and make his exit while he could. Lula had just begun her show and was in the process of her first trick when she got a phone call. She shooed all the birds from her coat and then ran off.

They all got to the meet spot and got on the bikes. Jack who was very good on a bike, set off first. He was about to make it out of the alley when black SUVs rolled up- it was Walter and his crew. Jack crashed and went flying. The henchmen got out of the car, and Jack put up one hell of a fight. Dylan and Danny Drove forward and pulled Lula off her bike so that the bike would take out the henchmen. They almost were free when Merritt crashed and they stopped to quickly get him on a bike.

Meanwhile, Jack was fighting despite the serious pain he was in. His helmet helped take the impact of the crash, but it still hurt like hell. His leg was aching and he was pretty sure his wrist/hand was broken but he kept going, he had bad guys to punch before they punched him, but it was to no avail, a henchmen got one good hit in, and pulled a gun. That was when he froze and let them take him, he wasn't going to die for realzies- not on his watch. The henchmen gathered and zip tied the horsemen before loading them into an armored truck.

From there Walter showed off his evilness and Arthur's money. Getting out of the truck, they were rushed onto a jet- which was part of the plan. From there Walter asked for the Card. Danny refused, as did the others. They then threatened Dylan, which had everyone "give up". Danny talked- Walter revealed that Danny had not been talking to the eye after all- it had been him. Jack and Merritt were upset that Danny hadn't had told them- but Jack felt like it was Danny getting even for him faking his death.

Once Walter had the card, Chase suggested they tossed them out the jet door in air- because they all thought they had taken off and were flying. Merritt told his partners that they were the best family he could've asked for before he was tossed out. Lula was next, and then Jack. He screamed in pain all the way down, Danny was next and then Dylan.

Closing the jet door, those on the plane celebrated, they began to drink a million dollar bottle of alcohol when it turned black, a tarot card appeared, it read "fool". It was then that it was revealed that the horsemen were alive and it all had been for show.

In true Horsemen style, they explained the show and the trick, as well as how Walter was still alive. Once the FBI showed up, the horsemen were quick to disappear.

Going back to the eye's head quarters, they were showed around. On show was the plan- start to finish. The recognized the guy from the computer room as he said hi. Lula flirted with him as Jack and Danny began to look around with Merritt. Dylan followed Thaddeus where he was given information about his dad, and such, before Thaddeus disappeared.

Jack stood looking at a model of the room they had to originally break into when he got dizzy once more. The pain from his hand and wrist was caching up- the adrenaline was completely gone. Taking a step towards Danny who stood a good distance away, unaware of Jack's pain and sudden dizziness, he stumbled. Within seconds Jack was sprawled out on the floor, unconscious of the panicking that was now going on around him.

 **A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, they really make my day (:**


	10. Chapter 10

Danny heard something heavy hit the floor. He turned to see that Jack lay on the floor, unmoving. Rushing to his side, he called the others for help. Jack's pulse was weak and thready, his forehead was warm and feverish and his breathing labored.

The others were at his side moments later.

"He needs a hospital." Danny said panicking.

"We have someone who can treat him- we have the best medical supplies in the country, he can't go in a hospital. Within seconds the FBI would surround you guys and he would be stabilized and shipped on a plane back to the states."

"Get them, fast. please." Danny said nearly crying.

Jack lay too still, barely breathing and far too silent.

Within minutes someone was at Jack's side, helping him. The doctor man took a tube, inserted it into Jack's throat and then incubated him so that he was breathing again.

"I need you all to find something we can put him on and carry him, we need to keep his head and neck stable as well."

Merritt brought a folding table and broke it down so that it could lay on the floor beside Jack. Lula grabbed some boxes and gently took of Jack's belt and asked Merritt for his. With that, she handed it to the doctor who then secured Jack's neck before he and the others carefully moved Jack onto the table. They then all worked together to pick it up and carry Jack to the hospital area- which the eye had set up for emergencies like this.

The doctor shooed everyone but Danny out before using a portable X Ray on Jack's chest. The doctor was able to see that Jack had several broken bones, but none of them had yet to puncture his lungs. From there he wrapped his chest, so that the bones could heal. The doctor then used another machine to do a scan of Jack's head. He could see that there was some obvious trauma and wanted to make sure that he hadn't bled in the brain.

Unfortunately, the scans came back showing that Jack needed surgery to relieve the pressure in his brain. The doctor got anesthesia and sedated Jack, and then washed up before shaving part of Jack's hair off and then cutting into his skull to relieve the pressure.

Danny nearly fainted at the sight, but continued to monitor Jack's vitals. When it was over, the doctor wrapped Jack's head and they then moved him to a bed the others had brought from another room. The doctor also then Set Jack's wrist and hand before wrapping it in a cast before drawing blood and starting an IV. He also determined that Jack was stable enough via the breathing machine, and went to go process the blood samples. Sitting beside Jack, Danny held his hand and tried not to cry. Jack looked far too pale, and far too tiny in the bed. The doctor returned some time later and said,

"Jack doesn't seem to have any signs of Kidney Failure- which is good, considering the beating his midsection took. He's got low blood sugar, and For his height, he's on the underweight side. I'm gonna have him on a feeding tube because I'm going to keep him sedated a little bit longer, I really want the swelling in his brain to go down before we start to wake him up. He's got a bad concussion so I cant keep him asleep too much longer, I'm worried of the risk of him not waking up, but right now he shows signs of a complete recovery. I wont be able to tell if there is any brain damage until he wakes up."

Danny nodded as the doctor spoke. Once Jack had a feeding tube, a few more things added to his IV, and his vitals checked, the doctor wandered off. The others then came into the room quietly.

"He's gonna be okay Danny boy, He's a strong kid, and he's got all of us, he's got you, we're gonna be here for him." Merritt told him softly.

"I'm worried about the brain damage and his hand. I don't know what he would do if he couldn't be normal, and do magic. This is his life, and God help me, if Tressler and Walter took that from him, I'll find them in whatever hole they were dumped in, and will torture them until they cant take anymore, and then torture them some more." Danny said with frustration.

"whatever he needs, we will get it. Money is no issue, we have resources now. We're in the secret lair. They know that if we lose Jack, they lose us." Lula said softly.

They all agreed softly.

It took Two days, but the swelling In Jack's brain finally went down enough to where the doctor was comfortable brining him out of the medically induced coma. It took a few hours after that for Jack to begin to wake up. He didn't stay awake for very long each time, but he seemed to be aware that he was injured and in a hospital of sorts.

Danny didn't move from his bedside. In fact, his facial hair was growing into a beard nearly- he hadn't shaved in probably a week or more. His hair was dirty, and he was also in need of a shower, but he didn't want to be away from Jack. The others couldn't get him to move, they were lucky they even got him to eat.

It was the morning after being brought out of the coma, that Jack was more aware and able to interact more. He had the tube removed from his throat once his oxygen levels were high enough.

The doctor then did some tests on Jack to see how his memory was. He had no issue with his name, age, mom's name and such. So far he had been all there. His speech was a bit slurred and a little bit of a stutter, but it wasn't bad. The doctor wasn't sure if it would stay permanently or if it was temporary.

Jack was also very lucky that his Vision and Hearing were not affected by the concussion. The only real affects it had showed so far was Anxiety and sensitivity to light. The doctor was confident that once Jack's brain had healed, the sensitivity would go away. Anxiety wasn't something he typically worked with so he couldn't make a proper diagnosis on that.

Danny watched as Jack got frustrated when his speech wasn't perfect like before, and he would stutter a little bit. It was mostly prevalent when Jack would start a sentence, but not the full sentence. "I-I-I w-want to say that I really appreciate you being here with me." He told Danny that first evening.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

"I'm sorry I got my ass kicked, I thought I was good- well at least before they broke my hand."

"They hit you on the head at the start of this, that must have been a concussion, and then yesterday didn't help, it also didn't help that you didn't have time to stop and recover or even take a moment to breathe." Danny said softly. He didn't know how to start the conversation on how thin Jack was, and how that was really not helping him recover. The doctor said that Jack had to be on the feeding tube for a little bit longer, which Jack was unhappy about.

It was the next morning that the doctor explained to Jack why he had the feeding tube,

"You're on a feeding tube because its the fastest way to get nutrients into your body. It was necessary while you were unconscious, but now its a matter of getting you into healthier weight. Right now you are quite a bit underweight. Stress, and poor diet are huge impacts on your health. Your brain is healing, so it needs all the vitamins it can get. This is like a direct line into that.

Once I'm certain your heart and your lungs can handle it, I'll take you off the feeding tube. I don't want to stress you further and cause a relapse in your condition."

Jack sucked it up as best as he could, but he was definitely not a happy camper.


	11. Chapter 11

It took about a week before the doctor was reluctant to let Jack out of the makeshift hospital room. Dr. Evans removed the feeding tube two days after he told Jack why he had it in the first place. The IV remained until Jack was "released". Danny remained by Jack's side the entire time, well at least until Jack teased him and told him to go take a shower, that was really the longest time he had left Jack's side. The others were adamant about Danny going to the bathroom and eating regularly, so he wouldn't swap spots with Jack so to speak.

Jack was definitely feeling better. His brain was healing, his stutter wasn't as bad, and he was less "foggy" and "dazed". His ribs hurt if he moved too fast or sat in a weird position. He was also dying to play with a deck of cards. In his words to Danny, "he needed to know if he still could do it." So it was the doctor who decided when Jack could pick up a deck of cards- they didn't want Jack to push himself too hard, too fast.

When he finally got his hands- or well hand, on a deck of cards, he practiced throwing them, flipping them in his fingers and doing what he could with them. It was then that Danny saw Jack truly relax. He then realized how much fear Jack must of had, that if he couldn't do card tricks, everything would be over. Danny learned more and more about emotions and relationships in the last few weeks.

The stutter went away. It took speech therapy but Jack was patient, and working hard to overcome it.

It was three months since this all went down, and the horsemen were ready to make their next move. Macao was nice, but it wasn't home. Jack was missing his river immensely, as well as his bed- part of him knew that wherever he and Danny were, was home. But there was something about the apartment, the way the light shined in, in the morning that made it feel like home. Maybe it was because it was close to the water, or even that the apartment was strikingly similar to the one Jack grew up in, New York was home.

In the time they spent there, Neal came and visited. It was hard for him to see Jack struggling so much. There was the initial time that Jack picked up the cards and was relaxed with them, but when he struggled to do some tricks- due to not being able to use his left hand, he grew frustrated and depressed. He was definitely brooding again, but he had no way to escape his own head at times. He loved Danny, he really did, but some moments the other magician was just too much. He would always be Danny, and always have that ego to him, the things that made Danny, Danny.

On some days, mostly the rougher days, Jack would lock himself up in a room on the other side of the house they stayed in, and sit in the dark. His speech was still not where he wanted it- there was an aspect that he would never talk like he once did, and that made him upset. There was also the uncertainty about his hand, he didn't know yet if he would have the same strength in it, and if he could use it the same.

Tressler may have finally gone down, but in an aspect, he took Jack with him. It made him want to find the hole Arthur Tressler and Walter had been thrown in, and make sure it rained down on them a little harder.

Jack logged into his old twitter account and found that he had hundreds of thousands of followers. He was shocked, he knew the horsemen accounts had a ton of followers, but not that he had that many. Making sure he was on the secure network that would bounce his signal- everything the eye did was always secure and unable to be traced, he looked around twitter. The Horsemen's accounts had MILLIONS of followers. Danny- who had a twitter, had more followers than him- Hell Lula had more than him, and so did Merritt.

It made him feel like he wasn't as important as the others. Scrolling through the tweets, he saw that Danny was more active than he thought. He even was subtweeting about Jack at times.

Things like, "I wish you wouldn't expect perfection on the first try, give it time." it made Jack kinda mad, because Danny was always wanting perfection, and to be #1.

"Watching a family member recover from a rough incident is hard. I want them to be better already, but healing is a slow process."

Danny would also tweet stuff like, "who's the best magician?" and all the answers would be "YOU!"

"How great am I, I'm pretty great."

"Missing a lot of things, and a lot of people right now."

Jack was already overthinking, and social media wasn't helping.

"Really missing throwing cards with my left hand, wish it wasn't broken ?￢ﾀﾝ He tweeted.

The immediate response was how and why it was broken.

"remember London, New Years Eve- well my hand got broken and it hurt like hell, and I kept going thanks to Adrenaline." he replied to the person.

" JackWilder When will you guys be doing a show?" Jack read and then replied, " MonIcA214 Not sure…I'm on the mend so I cant be of much help."

He retweeted a bunch of people, and replied to people who were so excited to talk to him, that is until he came across the hate tweets.

"Go Kill Yourself, oh wait you tried that and lied about it. FAKE ASS BITCH"

"You suck at magic, I don't know why they keep you around."

"They should just replace you like they did Henley."

"is it true that TV cameras make you look 15lbs heavier because it sure looks like it."

"I don't see how anyone could like him, he lied about his death, thats so trust breaking."

The more he read, the more upset he got.

"Blink182 is so good, Its unreal." He tweeted.

""Will you come home and stop this pain tonight / stop this pain tonight." Jack tweeted.

"lol me like 6 months ago."

"There's a story at the bottom of this bottle / and I'm the pen."

"I've become so numb / I can't feel you there."

"I tear my heart open just to feel."

"She's got it out for me / but I wear the biggest smile."

"I'm sorry I can't be perfect."

He kept tweeting random Song Lyrics.

People mostly reacted to the lyrics themselves and how they knew the band, and were so excited that Jack liked that band.

The songs however, showed a lot of his emotions. He had drank so much at one point that he was rarely sober. Danny was there but he wasn't there for Jack. Lula wanted Jack in a sense, but Jack wanted Danny. And Jack wasn't the perfect boyfriend, nor was he the perfect magician, let alone person. He questioned what Danny saw in him. He was just some kid from the streets that was good at throwing cards. Jack came from a broken past, one that he kept trying to escape from. He missed his mom all the time, he wanted a piece of his old life back but he would never have it. Danny hadn't had the childhood he had. Danny didn't grow up on the streets, he didn't live in abandoned warehouses and raise himself.

Danny didn't understand people on a good day, so how was he supposed to understand Jack? On the surface Jack seemed like a happy guy, but he truly wasn't. He knew addiction, adrenaline, depression and what he thought was love.

 **A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows! It means the world. I work so hard to make sure I stick to the story line and true to the series, but also develoup things that haven't been touched upon. I've written ahead to chapter 15 already! Do you want this to go further or probably start to wrap up after chapter 16? Let me Know! I don't want to drag it out too long if you guys think its starting to get boring. Love You all! Have a good week! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

While Jack was having an existential crisis, Danny was with Merritt in the living room. Lula came in and asked, "have you seen what Jack's been tweeting?"

"No, Why?" the two men asked her.

"Its really…Emo?"

Danny pulled out his phone and looked at the tweets,

"There's a story at the bottom of this bottle / and I'm the pen."

"I'm sorry I can't be perfect."

"I've become so numb / I can't feel you there."

Stood out to Danny the most. He thought about the last few months, their relationship had been rocky for quite a while- thanks to Danny not listening and giving Jack a chance to talk and explain things. They had gotten back together and then were off to expose the guy in New York, and ended up in China. That was stressful, and then they were in London and then back in China. Jack had been at the will of others for so long, and then he had gotten hurt, and was now recovering.

Danny saw the differences in Jack, He saw how Jack was anxious a lot, he fiddled with the edge of his shirts and Jackets. He wouldn't make eye contact most of the time, when talking and he seems overall, not very confident. Jack would also lock himself up in rooms and not come out for hours. The shine in his eyes was slowly leaving, and it worried Danny.

Meanwhile, Jack was debating his place. He knew he had some skill, otherwise he wouldn't be here, but was he good enough to stay. What if his hand didn't work right afterwards, he'd be no help. He would only slow them down. Tears began to fall, and he couldn't stop. He was scared of what the future held.

Merritt looked at the tweets and said to Danny, "go find your boy, and remind him you care. He's internalized this all. He's trying to carry on as if nothing happened, and its not working. Its taken him several months to be able to talk relatively normal- that was speech therapy almost every day for several hours a day. Once his hand comes out of the cast, you and I both know he's going to try and use his hand, and we both know its not going to have the strength. Physical therapy will help that, but he is going to feel like shit. So go help him now, or help him later when he's a bigger mess of emotions."

Danny went off to find Jack. Wandering through the halls and rooms of the huge mansion, he finally found Jack. When he opened the door and saw Jack curled up on the floor, in the dark, it broke his heart a little, Jack looked so sad. Sitting beside him, he wrapped an arm around the younger man and pulled him close. Jack began to cry harder, into Danny's shoulder. Rubbing his back, he tried to calm his boyfriend down before he asked what was wrong. It took quite a few minutes, but Jack finally calmed down.

"what's wrong?" Danny asked.

"I…there's so much. I can't…what if….I don't know…" Jack said.

"Let's take it step by step." Danny suggested. The speech therapist had offered some advice to Danny on how to proceed with Jack. The more worked up the younger man was, the less you were able to understand him.

"What if my hand isn't the same? I wont be any good to you guys."

"Jack, Left hand or not, you're a horsemen. No one can take that from you. You deserve to be here, you do. Maybe its not as good as it once was, but, you are still incredible. Its not going to be perfect all at once, it'll take time."

Jack nodded slowly.

"Now what else is bothering you?"

"what if its no good?"

"Then you do tricks that you can do, and you don't worry about what you can do, or what you once could do."

"Why do you like me Danny? I Lied to you, about being dead, I didn't tell you how old I was, and I'm…I have issues now to Tressler, I can't…speak the same as I did. Its either all with a stutter, or with massive gaps…I…"

"Jack, I like you, because you're Jack. You love magic, its your life, you have my back even when I'm being a dick- and chances are I'm being a dick. You liked me despite the fact I'm an asshole, and egotistic. You brought me to reality, that everything wasn't about me, it was about us. I tried to take control, and I helped steered us into this last mess. I'm not perfect, and I know that sometimes, there are things I can't control. Like being in love with you. At first it scared me, I don't do relationships, I don't do emotions very well, most people see me as a jackass and thats it.

You saw me as a person, with flaws. With likes and dislikes, and the need to be in control, you let me have control, and let me, be me, the real me. If you wanted me to talk about the physical you, I'd say I love your eyes. They're so big and brown, they make me lose track of what I was thinking of. I love your smile, and the way your smile reaches your eyes. I love how your hand fits in mine, and how when we hug, or are close, your body fits with mine. I love when you wear your tightest jeans, and leather jacket. It shows off how sexy you are, and how good you look the you borrow my clothes.

I love how when you sleep, your mouth is open slightly, your hair is everywhere, and you're at peace. I love you Jack Wilder. I love you and it damn well scares me."

Danny said ranting at first, but slowly slowed down and talked softer and softer. By the time he finished, he was nearly at a whisper. Jack looked at him, and then hugged him quickly. He cried into his shoulder. That was the other thing with Jack's head injury, it left him highly emotional, he'd cry at the drop of a hat at times. It was hard for Danny, but he came around to accepting that Jack couldn't exactly control it because he suffered Brain Trauma. Holding his parter close, he rubbed his back until he calmed down once again.


	13. Chapter 13

It took a bit longer, but the horsemen were back in America. This time they were living in California. They chose somewhere they could fit in, and not have anyone notice. Sacramento was a good fit for this, the only issue Merritt had was that it was, "Too damn hot" in the summer. Jack had laughed and told him, "You should see Arizona."

By the time they got settled into their new place- they chose a house on the edge of the city, Jack's hand was out of the cast. While living there, they got cars. Jack and Merritt shared one, they had a mustang. Danny had a Honda Civic, and Lula had a Toyota Corolla. Dylan had a BMW 325i. It was very nice, and no one was allowed to touch it. The Mustang and the BMW were always parked in the garage to keep them safe but also away from prying eyes. Luckily the house was on a piece of land, with the neighbors not too close.

Jack and Danny had separate rooms despite them always sharing a bed when it came to them sleeping. Both guys deiced that there were times when they needed their space and own room to calm down some days.

The house it's self was a two story. The kitchen was big enough to cook for a lot of people, and had a lot of counter space. To avoid issues, the eye chose their bedrooms for them. Dylan got the master. The Master room was on the top floor at the end of a hallway. The other two rooms on that floor went to Jack and Danny. Lula and Merritt had bedrooms on the first floor. Merritt claimed he was okay with it because he was old, and his knees weren't the same as before. Lula didn't have to say it, but she was glad to be distanced from Jack. She was embarrassed that she had flirted with him and tried so hard to get him to like her, also she didn't want to hear them having sex, if they ever did do it.

Jack liked that he was on the second floor, and able to crawl up onto the roof. His left hand didn't have the strength yet, so he hadn't gone up yet but he planned to. It was hard on him, definitely harder than he led on. He knew he had to rebuild the strength slowly, but he wanted it now. No one knew that he was still drinking quite a bit- no one saw. They also hadn't seen how much he'd been smoking lately. He was almost always high or drunk whenever Danny wasn't around. Being sober was harder. Jack knew however that someone was bound to notice, and so he became extra careful. He'd stash the alcohol places like in his dresser, or in his closet under his coats- basically anywhere no one would look.

Danny had this schedule, where every Tuesday he would go out and be out all day. He never said where he was going, and no one asked. He'd leave early and return late. So since Danny wasn't there, Jack would wait until about noon when all the others had left, and he'd go out on the property and get really really high. He'd then return to his room, where he'd get frustrated at his hand, or his emotions being all over the place, and then drink. By the time the bottle was finished, he was beyond faded, and passed out on the floor.

Tuesday was no different, only Jack was out of alcohol already- He hadn't gone out and gotten anymore in a few days since Merritt had the car. So he went out and he got really, really stoned. When he got back to his room, he put on some music and laid there for a long time. His phone was somewhere, but he didn't know where, and he didn't want to move to see what time it was. So when Danny came in, and stood there looking down at him, all Jack could think was, "Oh shit."

When Danny got home, he was earlier than usual, way earlier. It was nearly 3 in the afternoon. All the cars were gone, so he figured that everyone was gone, or that either Merritt or Jack was here unless the two went out together. Seeing that Merritt was gone, he knew Jack was likely to be here. Going upstairs, he heard music on in Jack's room. Knocking on the door, he got no answer. Walking in, he saw Jack laying on the floor.

"hey." Danny said as he turned down the music.

"Hey." Jack replied. He knew he was in deep shit if Danny realized he was high.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

"Relaxing."

"Right…" Danny said.

"where were you?"

"Out."

"that's nice." Jack said rather flatly.

"yeah….are you ok? you seem off."

"'m great, never better. just laying here chilling, because that's what i do on Tuesdays." Jack replied.

Danny sat on the floor beside him. Jack who felt like he was floating, but also on a boat, wanted to sleep. He curled up, using his arm as a pillow and fell asleep. Danny just watched, he didn't know what to say. After a few minutes, he slowly untangled Jack and got him into his bed, and pulled the covers up on him. As he turned to leave, Jack mumbled in his sleep, "'tay." Which was his attempt to say, stay. Kicking his shoes off, Danny sighed to himself and got into bed with him. The moment he was next to him, Jack curled up into Danny and was out cold.

As he laid there beside his boyfriend, he was wondering why Jack was off, and why he fell asleep mid conversation. As Jack curled up into him closer, he smelt his cologne but also the smell of weed. Sighing to himself, he put it together and saw that Jack was higher than a kite. Rather than say something and start a fight when he woke up, Danny decided that he would talk to Dylan and Merritt before confronting Jack about it. He didn't have a problem with it per say, but he didn't want Jack to be abusing it, and wasting away.

Jack had rolled over, and his shirt had moved, showing his back. Danny noticed that Jack's spine stuck out a huge amount and realized how sick Jack was. He remembered how when he moved Jack, he seemed really light, too light. He then remembered the argument Jack had with the doctor over the feeding tube, how he didn't want it. As he lay there, he realized that Jack had a problem, and Danny had no way to wrap his head around it.


	14. Chapter 14

Danny waited until Jack went out, to talk to Dylan and Merritt. Thankfully Lula wasn't around either, because Danny didn't want to explain why he didn't want to tell her. They knew they had to be quick since they didn't know when Jack would be home.

Sighing, Danny started, "I came home the other day earlier than I usually do. I found Jack Sky high laying on the floor of his room. He fell asleep mid conversation. Rather than let him sleep on the floor, I moved him to his bed. He was lighter than I remembered him being. As I went to leave, he told me to stay so I did. I laid there beside him, and at one point his shirt moved and I saw how much his spine stuck out. It was…horrifying. Rather than confront him when he woke up, I dropped both matters. I came to you guys because I didn't know what to do, and I didn't want to mess us up."

"Thats some…serious stuff." Merritt said, "I can hypnotize him and see what he says."

"would he know what you did?" Danny asked.

"Not if I surprise attack him with it. Like right before he's going to bed, I do it, get the answers and then put him to sleep so he wakes up the next morning with no recollection."

"what do you think Dylan?" Danny asked.

"I think its unfortunately one of the only ways were gonna get the kid to talk. He's not big on answering direct questions."

Dany nodded, "its a plan."

They then heard the garage door opening and knew Jack was home. Merritt wandered to his room, Dylan went upstairs and Danny remained in the kitchen. He made himself a cup of coffee.

'Hey there." Jack said with a smile.

Danny smiled at him and said, "hey there, I was making some coffee, do you want some?".

Jack nodded and then flopped onto the couch. Danny brought it to him slowly, observing his boyfriend.

"Long Day?"

"Quite Long. I had to go south a bit in order to get that thing Dylan asked me to get the other day. Turns out, its an hour there and an hour back. Luckily they had it, and didn't ask questions. Traffic was awful. Remind me not to go on a Friday." Jack said with a yawn before taking a sip of his coffee.

"I was thinking that we should go the beach, Y'know. Its summer, and I haven't been in years. I know you'd love the water. Lula would love swimming and I'm pretty sure I heard that Dylan can surf."

"that sounds fun."

"We can go tomorrow, make it a day trip. The beach is about three hours from here. If we leave early, we should beat traffic." Danny said. His motive was to get Jack shirtless.

"What time do you wanna leave?"

"Probably about 8. We can take food and have a picnic."

"sounds good." Jack yawned. It was barely even 6pm and Jack was dead tired. He knew it was the lack of food that was the cause.

Danny put on the TV, on in the background. The news was on, but they hadn't paid much attention to it. That is until they heard, "the horsemen."Jack woke up from the semi sleeping state he was in and out of. Turning the TV up, the story said,

"The President has given a parson to the magic group, "the horsemen", years ago they stole money and gave it away in vegas. Jack Wilder, the youngest member had faked his death. The President has said that they received some influential information that helped the FBI close several cases, and decided to pardon the horsemen. They are no longer wanted for any crimes. However any future things will not receive this pardon."

"we got off free…WE GOT OFF FREE." Jack yelled. They no longer had to stay in hiding, and live on the run.

Jack jumped up and cheered, they could finally be normal, or well as normal as they could be. It meant no more hiding and disguises. It meant being able to walk down the street without fear of the FBI.

The others heard and came running. Soon they were all cheering. After dinner was made- and they all went their own ways for the night, Jack returned downstairs. He had silently snuck his way back to the kitchen. His stomach hurt and he was hungry. Grabbing whatever was in the cabinet, he snuck back into his room, locked the door and ate it. By the time he finished the chips- which had been mostly empty, he regretted his decision. Shoving everything under his bed, he snuck off to the bathroom, where he turned on the faucet, locked the door and threw up.

His throat burned, he felt dizzy and his shirt was sticking to him. Once everything was out of his stomach, he relaxed. Laying with his back against the wall, he pushed the dizziness away. Getting up, he brushed his teeth and washed his face after flushing the toilet. Making sure he looked fine, he checked the mirror one last time before going to his room. Putting on his pajamas, he got in bed, but couldn't sleep. All the food under his bed was making him anxious. So getting up as silently as he could, he grabbed the food and crept downstairs, putting it away. Rather then go to his bed, he went to Danny's room and crawled in bed with him. Danny, who was asleep groaned and then adjusted to Jack being there, and fell back asleep. It took a little while longer but Jack eventually fell asleep.

Danny's alarm clock went off at 6:30. Jack groaned and buried his head in the pillow further, not wanting to get up yet. Danny got up, it took a moment of untangling himself from Jack but he managed. Once he was up, he changed into some long shorts and a tank top, grabbed his hoodie and went downstairs to pack the food and see what they might need later and make a list. It was After 7, when the others got up. Merritt was nursing a large nursing a large coffee, Lula was doing her best to wake up, and Danny was going back upstairs to wake Jack up and see if Dylan was awake. He didn't remember when Jack joined him in bed but he did remember it happening. Shaking Jack awake, he granted and asked for 5 more minutes. Danny reluctantly gave it to him and came back 5 minutes later. This time he made Jack get up.

Going to his room to get dressed, Jack realized he didn't have any swim clothes. Putting on skinny jeans and a hoodie- leather jackets and water don't mix, he grabbed his vans, his phone and headed down stairs to the others.

The group debated on taking two cars, but ultimately, they took one- Lula's. Lula drove, while Danny, Jack and Dylan sat in the back. Merritt sat up front beside her. It wasn't the most comfortable but the three in the back made do. Jack sat in the middle, he was uncomfortable because he felt like he was taking up too much space. Leaving a little before 8, they hit the road to the ocean.

 **A/N: The end is unfortunately near, but I have enjoyed writing this story quite a bit. I have a few more ideas up my sleeve that I cant wait to start on :)**


	15. Chapter 15

For most of the drive, Jack did alright in the middle. It wasn't until they hit the really windy roads that Jack got uncomfortable. Danny rubbed gentle circles on his arm trying to keep him calm, as he could feel Jack tensing beside him. When they were pretty close, they stopped along the way at a store to get Jack some proper swim clothes.

Going into target, Jack went to the men's section to get Jack some swim shorts. He grabbed a Small and a medium and handed them to Jack, telling him to go try them on. Putting them on, he found that the smalls were the better fit, but didn't quite fit him because they were too big. He told Danny that the one pair fit better and they went on with their shopping trip. Lula bought some soda, Merritt went for the alcohol and Dylan went for some food that Danny forgot to pack. Once they were all done, they met at the car and then continued on.

When they got there, they grabbed all of their stuff and headed out into the sand. Dylan had the smart idea to bring camping chairs and a tent. Setting them up, he relaxed in a chair. Merritt and Jack set up the tent while Lula got the food situated. They had a tiny barbecue to grill hot dogs and burgers on.

Once everything was set up, they all made their way to the water. Jack, had ran back and changed into his swim trunks before joining them once again. Dylan, and the others had taken their shirts off, Lula wore a bikini, but Jack kept his shirt on. They all played in the water, splashing around.

Danny took Jack to where the water was at their knees, and splashed him with a wave. They then had a water fight. By the time the two came out of the water, they were drenched and shivering. Jack didn't take his shirt off, he really didn't want to. Dylan suggested they play catch which became a game of football. Dylan tackled Jack into the sand. They played a few more minutes but ended for lunch. Just before they ended, Dylan tackled Merritt, "I guess I deserved that one Quarterback."

They all laughed, knowing that he was taking about the New Orleans show when Merritt hypnotized audience members to tackle Dylan or then known as Agent Rhodes.

By the time they sat down to eat, Jack had sand everywhere and was still shivering. Danny suggested he took his shirt off, so that it could dry and the sand would be easier to shake off. Jack was very, very hesitant but did as Danny suggested. It was then that everyone could see how skinny Jack was. His skin was pulled tight against his bones. There wasn't much to him. No one said anything, or made it seem like they were staring, because they didn't want Jack to be uncomfortable, or realize they were looking.

After lunch, Jack played in the water for a while longer before going to lay down in the tent since he was tired. When the others were confident that he was asleep, they went down closer to the shore to talk so that Jack couldn't hear them speaking. It was hard for Danny to say, but they all saw that Jack wasn't exactly healthy. He pretty much looked like a skeleton with skin. They talked amongst their selves, and decided that Dylan would contact the eye, and tell them what was going on, because Jack needed help, he was wasting away. Once they had a plan, Danny went back to the tent and laid down with Jack, who had put his hoodie on before falling asleep. With his boyfriend close to him, Danny fell asleep.

Merritt and the others played on the beach for a while longer before deciding to pack up, as it was getting kinda late and they had to drive home. They took the food and chairs to the car before they woke Danny and Jack up. Once they were up and moving, the others took the tent down and loaded it into the car. Unknowing to them, Lula stood off in the distance taking a picture of them watching the sunset. It was a beautiful picture.

Dylan drove back, Lula sat in the back. Jack and Danny fell asleep again, leaning on each other. By the time they got home, it was late. Dylan woke them up and the two walked inside, fell back asleep on the couch, not going any further.

When morning came, the two magicians smelt like ocean and felt dirty from their beach worn clothing. Taking showers, the two got clean and dressed before going to have breakfast. Danny made sure that what he made was healthy, and didn't ask questions to Jack because he didn't want to make him aware that he knew was what going on. He didn't know how to confront the younger magician, or where to begin.

They eventually ended up at the store, where Jack insisted they buy monopoly. When they got back, they had a huge game of monopoly that lasted 4 hours. With no one winning, they left it on the kitchen table to come back to the next day.

The next few days, Danny had made small efforts to get Jack to eat healthy and more often. At one point Jack realized what was going on. He was torn, he knew he was at a point where he needed to recover, he realized that his eating disorder was controlling his life, and taking a toll on his relatioships. He wasn't who he was a year ago.

It was after a several hour session of thinking and debating with himself, that he realized he needed help.

Over the next few days, every time Danny handed him a plate of food, he ate it no matter how much he didn't want to. It took a week but by then he felt better, his head didn't hurt as much and he wasn't dizzy as often. His stutter was still there, as it had always been since the head trauma in London, but everyone was used to it.

By the end of the month, Jack had been doing a lot better. Danny had eventually confronted him, and Jack said, "I realized that I needed help, and you were trying to help me. Its been difficult, its been hard but I'm overcoming it."

It was on the second month of Jack recovering that the eye gave them all a new task. Jack had put on weight and was well enough now to run along rooftops with everyone. He was still very thin, but he was looking and feeling better. This new task, it would push them even further than anything before, but they knew they could do it. After all, they had each other's backs, and Family doesn't end in blood.

With a renewed Determination, the horsemen worked harder and harder each day to be the best at what they do, and to master the skills needed. Jack still struggled with the stutter, but in time he learned to accept it. His hand strength increased, and by the time they made their comeback, Jack was throwing cards and cutting bananas in half just like before.

Danny and Jack had their disagreements, their fights and their moments where they both needed to walk away and cool down, but at the end of the day, they always came back together and apologized.

 _Fin._

 ** _A/n: Thank you all for the favorites, follows and reviews. This was my first story in the NYSM universe, and I am so excited and happy to have gone through and shared this experience and story with you. I'm so excited to share more NYSM stories with you guys._**


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